March 07, 2006

A Show of Hands for CSA Survivors

In the course of my forum and message board posting, I've met a remarkable woman. Her name is Jodi Larson and she's an artist. She is in the process of creating an amazing vehicle for raising abuse awareness. It's called,"The Show of Hands."

Like me, Jodi is a survivor of childhood sexual abuse. Jodi's idea is to see a show of hands of everyone who has been affected by CSA. If you'd like to be included in her project (which will be part of a touring art exhibit sometime in the future) you can contact Jodi and request one of two types of handprint kits. They are both free of charge. The first type involves a photochemical process that uses the sun to create an image of your hand (it must be kept in the sun for 20 minutes). The second type uses ink and is more like a fingerprint for your entire hand.

Survivors can add artwork or words of their own to the image of their hand. I am requesting a handprint kit for myself and am arranging to do the handprints as a project for the incest survivor support group I belong to. Jodi is also asking for survivor stories to go along with the handprints in her exhibit. You can write a poem or a full narrative of your story to be included.

Jodi lives in Wilmington, DE and will be offering some opportunities for locals to add handprints in person at various workshops and events she plans on attending in the near future. The last survivor opportunity I want to make you aware of is the fact that Jodi will be printing all of the poems, prints and stories on handmade paper. Get this: The paper will be made out of survivor clothing. So, if you've got a 100% cotton piece of clothing you'd like to see go into the paper, contact Jodi and add that, too.

Hi,My name is Stella, and I am currently doing a paper for school concerning CSA and personal resilience. My sisters and I were all sexually abused as children, and the affects on our lives have been overwhelming. I've fought hard to overcome and move on with my life, but my sisters are really struggling. I know that most of my cousins were abused and are now suffering. More people need to come forward and embrace each other, take a stand to help heal and overcome CSA. Thank you for doing something so personal to stand up against CSA.

I am a good friend of Jodi Larson, the artist who created The Show of Hands, and it is with deep sorrow that I share with you that she passed away early Sunday morning after a courageous battle with cancer. Jodi was vivacious, talented, and not afraid to stand up for her beliefs. She was a great friend. A huge hole will be left where she once stood. - Andrea Duff

Her obituary can be found at www.delawareonline.com (the online version of the News Journal). I am copying the details below.

ANITA LARSON

Anita (Jodi) LarsonAge 52, of Wilmington, DE, died on Sunday May 20, 2007, after a brief but courageous battle with cancer.Jodi was born in Albertsville, AL on October 5, 1954. She was a lover of the arts, nature and people. She was a wonderful photographer, paper-maker, teacher and a friend of Bill W. Jodi created a website called "The Show of Hands", to help support survivors of childhood abuse.Jodi will be dearly missed by; her children, Keary Larson and his wife, Kate, Emily Harding and her husband, Lonnie, Anna Larson and her companion, Andrew Desmond, II, and Aaliyah Larson, her grandson, Andrew Desmond, III; her parents, Bonita and Jacques Berman; her sisters, Narissia Phanuef, Marcia Davis and her husband, Bob, Jan Metcalf and her husband, Clyde; her brother, Jay Berman and his wife, Paula; many nieces, nephews and cherished friends.Relatives and friends are invited to attend the funeral at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Millcreek, 579 Polly Drummond Hill Road, Newark, on Thursday, May 24, at 10 am. Burial will be in All Saints Cemetery. Visitation will be held at the DOHERTY FUNERAL HOME, 3200 Limestone Road, Pike Creek, on Wednesday from 6-8pm.In lieu of flowers, contributions in memory of Jodi may be sent to the Heartland Hospice House, 261 Chapman Road Newark, DE 19702; or to the Helen Graham Cancer Center4735 Ogletown-Stanton Road Newark, DE 19713.To send condolencesplease visit:www.dohertyfh.com302-999-8277

I feel like I was walking around with a big sign on my back that said, "Abuse me". There were so many abusers of me when I was a child. I wondered if they talked to each other and said, "ya, use her, she won't resist." There were relatives, hired hands, neighbors, strangers, business men, high school guys, college guys, law enforcement people. Never priests or teachers, though! They were my solace and consolation - although I never shared with them my abuse. I simply isolated it into the back of my brain until later. Is there anyone else out there who was abuse by multiple people over multiple years. My brother abused me for around 10 years and my cousins the same. Other people for lesser amounts of time.Only after I was in therapy for a while and had reached the age of 23 was I finally able to be strong enough and integrated enough to get it stopped. :(

About Me

My background is in advertising and corporate communications, then freelance writing for Chicago newspapers. After moving to Colorado, I'm now writing, advocating and working on my certificate in botanical illustration.